News

After getting kicked out of Miami’s Bayfront Park, where it had held court since 2001, Ultra Music Festival has been granted permission by Miami City Commissioners to relocate to Virginia Key Beach.

Despite protests from local residents and politicians including Key Biscayne Mayor Michael Davey, the commission voted 4-1 to allow Ultra to be held March 29-31, 2019 outside Marine Stadium and in Virginia Key Beach Park.

Previously, Rapture Electronic Music Festival had advertised its two-day 2019 edition over the same weekend on the same site. In response, Rapture organizers organized a No to Ultra petition the day before the hearing, to no avail.

While Commissioner Joe Carollo had argued vehemently for a flat $2 million payment, in the end Ultra promoters will pay the city of Miami $1.4 million to rent the key for the weekend. UMF also agreed to spend millions more on environmental safeguards and public safety. Continue Reading →

Magazine London, a 3,000-capacity, two-room nightclub and event space, will launch in the summer of 2019. News of the opening comes the 600-capacity 24-hour electronic-music venue FOLD made its debut in east London in August.

Located at the Greenwich Peninsula overlooking the River Thames, the space will be used for a variety of purposes — parties, exhibitions, gigs, conferences and a range of other events. Additionally, the owners are hoping to construct an outdoor festival space able to accommodate 7,000 revelers.

Magazine London will be easily accessible with excellent transport links from the West End, London Bridge and Canary Wharf.

Obligatory press release gush from Simon Tracey, CEO of the venue’s owner, Vibration Group: “London is still very much at the forefront of live events globally and Magazine, with its incredible flexibility both indoor and out, is groundbreaking.”

Obligatory press release gush from Knight Dragon CEP Richard Margree, the international property and investment company backing the venture: “Magazine London fits superbly with what we’re doing on Greenwich Peninsula — creating a new London underpinned by creativity, a community with culture and entertainment at its heart.”

Earlier this year UK house/techno journeyman Darren Emerson, who has been busy touring with 3D partners Danny Howells and Dave Seaman, announced the launch of Evolve, a new quarterly mix compilation series. What’s special about Evolve is that each edition will be comprised solely of tracks from his Detone label.

The track listing features a slew of Emerson’s own productions — “Bub” (originally released on Selador), “Creepin” with Sian and a pair of exclusive new cuts, “Stop It” and “Scratcher” — as well as contributions from Hansgod, John Tejada, Saytek, Linear B, Jon Cowan, Thomas Angstrom, Copy Paste Soul, Sinisa Tamamovic and others. We’ve listened to an advance promo and can attest that Emerson has indeed raised the bar to a staggering new height.

Obligatory press release hush from Emerson about Evolve: “I wanted the first edition of ‘Evolve’ to highlight my evolution as an artist, so it includes bits that I’ve done a few years ago and some stuff that’s come out recently, plus some brand new exclusives. Naturally as things change in our life we are EVOLVING, so this project will represent my journey as an artist and a label owner.”